Vertical magneto



May 31, 1932. c. F. REIS 1,860,749

VERTICAL MAGNETO Filed June 29, 1928 .5 Sheets-Sheet 1 My x in IV.-. 11|ll 1l W h a? r k w May 31, 1932. C |5 1,860,749

VERTICAL MAGNETO Filed June 29, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m In 1 HHHHHII l H \HIH NIH Q W I g May 31, 1932. c. F. REIS I VERTICAL MAGNETO Filed June 29, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 31400144501, Car/Z Patented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE CORT FREDERICK REIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO EXCEL MAGNETO CO., OF

CHICAGO,

VERTICAL Application filed .Tune 29,

My invention relates to ignition systems for internal combustion engines and particularly to amagneto unit for use in such systems.

The desirability of using a magneto for ignition purposes in order to avoid the use of a storage battery has often been manifest, but magnetos destined for such use have not been capable of furnishing a strong spark at low engine speeds. At the time of starting a strong spark is necessary and heretofore systems designed for use with a magneto have also had a battery which could be switched into the ignition circuit when starting the engine.

An object of my invention is to provide a magneto capable of furnishing a strong, hot spark, even at low engine speeds so that the use of a starting battery is not necessary.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a small compact magneto unit designed to replace the distributor head of an automobile engine and to furnish a substitute for the battery ignition system without the use of special tools and without alteration of any of the structure of the engine or of the ignition system.

Still another object of my invention is to produce a unitary magneto including interrupter and distributor mechanism which is entirely self-contained, and is but slightly larger than the ordinary distributor head so that it can be installed on engines which carry the distributor above the top of the engine block or in other places where the space is limited.

- Other objects will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings; in which Figure he an elevational view of one form of magneto unit embodying my invention, and illustrating the'manner of mounting such unit on an engine of the type now in use.

Figure 1a is a top plan view of one form of distributor head mounting with which my magneto unit may be used.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through Fig. 1, showing the interior of the magneto unit.

Figure 3 is an elevational view looking ILLINOIS MAGNETO 1928. Serial No. 289,096.

from right to left in Fig. 1, a portion of the magneto housing being removed.

Figure 4a. a horizontal section of the complete magneto showing the interrupter mechanlsm.

Figure 5 is a section of the complete magneto on the line indicated 5-5 in Fig. 2, and showing the structure of the rotor and stator; and

Figure 6 is a top plan View of the magneto cover as its appears when removed from the unit.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in each of the several views.

Referring now to F ig. 1 of the drawings, the reference character 1 designates generally a housing of pressed steel which encloses and forms a support for the elements of my magneto unit. This housin is preferably made in two parts which may be separated for purposes of repair and inspection. As here shown, a removable section 1 is provided as clearly shown in Fig. 8, this section being normally secured in the position shown in Fig. 1 by any suitable means, not shown.

The housing 1 is divided into two compartments 2 and 3 by an integral partition 4 (Fig. 2). This partition extends only a part of the way toward the top of the housing, thus leaving room for a portion of the stator structure of the magneto to connect the structure within the two compartments. Secured to the top of housing 1 is a cover plate 5 which forms a closure for the compartment 2. The bottom of housing 1 is closed by a tubular sleeve 6 threaded th-ereinto.

Rotatably mounted within the compart ment 2 is a rotor 7 fixedly secured to a shaft 8 which is carried in suitable roller bearings 9 and 10 in cover plate 5 and the lower end of the housing. This rotor is a unitary structure and comprises hard steel poles 11 carrying at their upper extremities laminated pole shoes 12 held in position by integrally cast nonmagnetic material 13 see Fig". 5. As here shown this rotor has four poles which are permanently magnetized to furnish a mag netic field of great density, the efiectiveness of this field being materially increased by the presence of the soft steel pole shoes 12 which serve to concentrate the flux and to furnish a magnetic path of high permeability. Oppositely located poles 11 are of the same polarity and are connected by the laminations of pole shoes 12. Certain ones of these laminations are provided with tying POItIODSdt spaced in such manner that poles of unllke polarity are separated from each other by substantial quantities of the non-magnetic material 13. The structure of this rotor per se is described and claimed in my Patent Number 1,7 26,042, granted August 27, 1929. Within the compartment 3 and cooperating with the rotor 7 is a stator structure comprising a magnetic core and a generating winding. This core is made up of a straight laminated section 15 of substantially rectangular cross-section and two side portions 16 and 17. These parts are united in suitable manner, as by screws 18 and the side portions 16 and 17 are enlarged to form pole-pieces 16 and 17 a which are cut away, forming arcuate portions surrounding but slightly spaced from the rotor pole-shoes 12. The section 15 carries a generating winding 19 made up of primary and secondary. Also mounted within compartment 3 is a condenser 32 the purpose of which will be set forth herelnafter. It will be seen that by removing the housing section 1 (Fig. 3) and the screws 18 that the generating winding 19 can be readily reached for repair without disturbing the remainder of the unit. u

From the foregoing, it will be manifest that when rotor 7 is rotated the direction of flux flow through the core section 15 from poles 11 will be periodically reversed, and that an electro-motive force will be induced in the Winding 19 in accordance with the rate of such reversal and the amount of flux which threads core section 15. This action is in accordance with well known laws and will be understood without further explanation.

It will be understood that although I have shown only a single generating winding 19 made up of a primary and secondary for sup plying current to the spark plugs of the engine, my invention is not so limited. If, for example, current is to be supplied to an eight cylinder engine it may be advantageous to employ two generating windings in order to increase the efliciency of the magneto by having a single rotor supply flux to the two windin 's.

For the purpose of controlling and distributing the current generated in winding 19 during operation of the rotor 7, I provide a compact and simple structure and mount it on the cover plate 5. The interrupter structure as best shown in Figs. 1 and 1, comprises a cam 20 secured to the projecting portion of shaft 8 above cover plate 5, and two interrupters 21 and 22. The interrupter 21 has a stationary contact 21 mounted on plate .5 and a movable contact 21 carried by an arm 23 pivoted at 24. Arm 23 also carries a bumper 25 arranged to engage the lobes of cam during rotation thereof. Interrupter 22 is similar and comprises contacts 22 and 22", an arm 26 pivoted at 27 and a bumper fixed to the cover plate 5 and form bearings for the arms 23 and 26, respectively. The fixed post 29 not only serves as a fulcrum for the spring 28, but it also supports one end of each of the links 30 and 31. These links, as shown in Fig. 4;, act merely as spacers to hold the arms 23 and 26 in spaced relation to cover plate 5. These interrupters are connected in parallel with each other and in series with the primary of the generating winding 19. Suitable leads 33 and 34; are provided for making this connection. The interrupters operate in the usual manner to interrupt the primary circuit at the time a spark is desired in the secondary circuit. lhe opening of the primary causes a very rapid decay of flux in the core so that an electromotive force of great intensity is produced in the secondary winding. The condenser 32 is bridged across the interrupters in order to assist and augment this flux decay.

The distributor comprises an insulating cap .35 made in such form as to fit in place on top of the cover 5 where it is secured by a spring 36, pivotally secured to a post 37. This cap is partially hollowed out to accommodate the interrupter mechanism and an insulating disk 38 which is rigidly secured to the end of shaft 8 in any suitable manner. Embedded in the top of disk 38 is a radial conducting segment 39 which extends from a central conducting button to the periphery of the disk. This disk and the segment 39 are arranged to contact with a plurality of fixed contacts 41 which are embedded in the cap. These contacts are designed to afford connections with the usual leads from the spark plugs of an engine, the ends of these leads being inserted in openings 12, as shown in Fig. 6. The contacts 41 correspond in number to the number of engine cylinders and as here shown the apparatus is designed for use with a four cylinder engine.

Proper connections are assured by providing indicia in the cap 35 as shown in Fig. 6. These indicia may be of white celluloid or other suitable material and preferably cov ered over by a thin transparent layer to prevent the figures from being worn off. These figures may indicate either the engine cylinders by number or the firing order. Numerals 5 and 6 appearing on cap 35 in Fig. 6, indicate the points of connection of short circuit cables leading to breaker arms 23 and 26.

Also embedded in cap 35 is a secondary lead 43. This lead is connected at one end to the secondary of winding 19 by a spring pressed brush 44 which makes contact with a conducting knob 45 carried on the outside of winding 19 and electrically connected with the secondary winding. The other end of lead 43 is connected to the conducting button 40 by means of a spring-pressed brush 46.

The secondary circuit of winding 19 may now be traced from knob 45 through brush 44, lead 43, brush 46, button 40, conducting segment 39, and one of contacts 41 to one of the spark plugs of the engine cylinders and thence to ground. It will be clear that as shaft 8 rotates the segment 39 will make contact successively with the contacts 41.

It will be noted that the distributor is directly driven from shaft 8 without the use of any intermediate gearing. This not only simplifies the structure but cuts down the over-all length by a substantial amount and makes the whole apparatus compact and durable. The cap 35 not only encloses the interrupters and the distributor but it serves as a closure for the compartment 3. The entire distributing and interrupting mechanism is made accessible by simply rotating the spring 36 and removing the cover 35.

This unit is designed to replace the distributor head of an internal combustion engine. As new constructed the distributor drive shaft is usually arranged as shown in Fig. 1 In this figure, 49 designates the top end of a casing enclosing the distributor drive shaft 50. This casing 49 may be a part of the engine block or of the generator housing and is merely illustrated by way of e ample. The drive shaft 50 is slotted at 52 in order to accommodate a tongue 51 on the end of magneto shaft 8. The slot 52 and tongue 51 may be slightly off-center so that the parts cannot be assembled improperly. For securing the magneto in place in casing 49 the sleeve 6 is grooved at 47 for the reception of a locking screw 48 which passes through casing 49. hen the tongue 51 is inserted in slot 52 this screw may be advanced into groove 47 so as to allow the magneto housing to rotate but to prevent its withdrawal from casing 49. An arm 53 on housing 1 of fords a means to be connected to the spark lever for timing the explosions in the motor.

It will now be clear that my magneto unit can be inserted in place of the distributor head of an internal combustion engine, and by merely disconnecting the distributor leads from this head and inserting them in the openings 42 in the cap, in proper sequence a complete operative electrical system is maintained without the use of a battery. It will be obvious that it may be used with any type of engine such as used in airplanes and automobiles. The efiiciency of this unit is such as to deliver a strong hot spark at low speeds, and the unit can be installed in limited space without the use of special tools.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of magneto embodying my invention it is to be understood that various modifications in the details can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A magneto unit comprising a housing divided into two compartments, a rotor in one of said compartments, a stator winding in the other compartment and having associated pole pieces in inductive relation to said rotor, a hollow insulating cap secured to the top of said housing and containing current interrupting and distributing mechanism operated from said rotor, said cap extending over both of said compartments, a separate closure for the stator winding compartment, and a shaft extending from the lower end of said rotor through said housing, and means on said shaft adapted to establish a separable driving connection with a distributor drive shaft.

2. A magneto unit comprising a housing, a vertical shaft within said housing and carrying a magnetic rotor, a stator magnetically associated with said rotor, a distributor on the top of said housing and comprising an insulating cap containing a plurality of spaced conducting contacts, an insulated brush attached to the end of said shaft in engaging relation to said contacts, said brush comprising an insulated dish containing a radial conducting portion adapted to successively engage the contacts on said cap during the rotation of said shaft, interrupter mechanism carried by the top of said housing, and clutching means on the lower end of said shaft.

3. A magneto unit comprising a housing divided into first and second compartments, a rotor in the first compartment, a shaft for said rotor terminating at one end of the housing in a clutching means, and at the other end in a distributor brush, a stator in the sec- 0nd compartment operatively associated with said rotor, an individual closure for the second compartment, and a single cap extending over both of said compartments, said cap having a plurality of current conducting contacts operatively associated with said distributor brush.

CURT FREDERICK REIS. 

